9
EDUCATION & YOUTH
Mountain Views-News Saturday, May 5, 2018
STATE DEPARTMENT SHUTS OUT KIDS FROM
SUMMER JOBS
SCHOOL DIRECTORY
By Joe Guzzardi
With summer just weeks away, teenagers and college
students looking for seasonal employment will
have to compete with the annual influx of international
workers.
The State Department’s Summer Work Travel
Program (SWT) will once again, as it has for decades,
provide an unlimited number of J-1 visas
to young foreign nationals who will come to the
U.S. to work at a variety of jobs. The State Department
defends SWT as a valuable cultural exchange
tool when in reality it’s a cheap labor bonanza for
employers.
The jobs include lifeguarding, waiting tables at
resorts, guiding tourists through national parks,
scooping ice cream and providing child care as
au pairs. These are jobs that most American kids
would eagerly do, given the opportunity.
But since the J-1 has no prevailing wage requirement,
employers can pay the visa holders lower
wages than those U.S. workers earn in similar occupations
and in the same geographic region.
Furthermore, employers are exempt from paying
the Social Security, Medicare, federal and state
unemployment taxes on J-1visa holders who are
often required to work overtime without extra
compensation.
Because international students pay an average of
about $1,100 in fees to private organizations that
sponsor their participation in the program, the
program generates well over $100 million in annual
revenues for those organizations. Participants
pay out millions more in visa fees to the State Department,
and in travel expenses to and from the
U.S. In the end, sponsors pay government dues to
be part of the program; students pay the fees associated
with the program and their own roundtrip
travel expenses; employers pay nothing. Many unsuspecting
SWTs return home disillusioned, often
with little money saved.
The State Department’s failure to oversee its own
program has led to multiple instances of exploitation
like last year’s Myrtle Beach case. Ten Dominican
Republic college students were promised jobs
at an Italian ice shop, plus adequate accommodations,
but ended up keeping house and living in a
bed bug-infested motel. Similar abuses have been
documented in Virginia, Michigan, Pennsylvania
and Mississippi.
Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported the
Trump administration is considering reducing the
number of visas issued under SWT. And as usual
when employment-based visas are scrutinized with
an eye toward cutting the total granted, businesses
cry foul and falsely predict that without cheap foreign
labor they’ll go bankrupt.
Yet, despite well-deserved and documented criticism
from labor experts who point to multiple
SWT flaws, the program carries on year after year
even though the unemployment rate among young
Americans, and especially minorities, is high. Last
summer, a survey showed that teens were about
three times as likely to be unemployed as other
Americans.
A few takeaways: serving gelato or waiting tables
on the Boardwalk can’t reasonably be considered
cultural exchange. If employers offered decent
wages and working conditions, they’d have little
trouble attracting American kids. Moreover, shutting
Americans out of the labor market has negative
long-term consequences. Unemployed young
adults don’t learn how to interact with their peers
or their often demanding bosses. They don’t acquire
essential work qualities like timeliness and
accountability that will lead to a productive career.
The most obvious and important conclusion of all
to draw from SWT is that the federal government
cannot enact or efficiently monitor any type of immigration
legislation that helps American workers.
-
Joe Guzzardi is a Progressives for Immigration
Reform analyst. Contact him at jguzzardi@pfirdc.org.
Alverno Heights Academy
200 N. Michillinda Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024
(626) 355-3463 Head of School: Julia V. Fanara
E-mail address: jfanara@alvernoheights.org
Arcadia High School
180 Campus Drive Arcadia, CA 91007
Phone: (626) 821-8370, Principal: Brent Forsee
bforsee@ausd.net
Arroyo Pacific Academy
41 W. Santa Clara St. Arcadia, Ca,
(626) 294-0661 Principal: Phil Clarke
E-mail address: pclarke@arroyopacific.org
Barnhart School
240 W. Colorado Blvd Arcadia, Ca. 91007
(626) 446-5588
Head of School: Ethan Williamson
Kindergarten - 8th grade
website: www.barnhartschool.org
Bethany Christian School
93 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024
(626) 355-3527
Preschool-TK-8th Grade
Principal: Dr. William Walner
website: www. bcslions.org
Clairbourn School
8400 Huntington Drive
San Gabriel, CA 91775
Phone: 626-286-3108 ext. 172
FAX: 626-286-1528
E-mail: jhawes@clairbourn.org
Foothill Oaks Academy
822 Bradbourne Ave., Duarte, CA 91010
(626) 301-9809
Co-Principals Nancy Lopez and Diane Kieffaber
info@foothilloaksacademy.org
preschool@foothilloaksacademy.org
Frostig School
971 N. Altadena Drive Pasadena, CA 91107
(626) 791-1255
Head of School: Jenny Janetzke
Email: jenny@frostig.org
The Gooden School
192 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024
(626) 355-2410
Head of School, Carl Parke
website: www.goodenschool.org
High Point Academy
1720 Kinneloa Canyon Road
Pasadena, Ca. 91107
Head of School: Gary Stern 626-798-8989
website: www.highpointacademy.org
La Salle High School
3880 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca.
(626) 351-8951 website: www.lasallehs.org
Principal Mrs. Courtney Kassakhian
Monrovia High School
325 East Huntington Drive, Monrovia, CA 91016
(626) 471-2800 Principal Darvin Jackson
Email: schools@monrovia.k12.ca.us
Odyssey Charter School
725 W. Altadena Dr. Altadena, Ca. 91001
(626) 229-0993 Head of School: Lauren O’Neill
website: www.odysseycharterschool.org
Pasadena High School
2925 E. Sierra Madre Blvd. Pasadena, Ca.
(626) 396-5880 Principal: Roberto Hernandez
website: http://phs.pusd.us
St. Rita Catholic School
322 N. Baldwin Ave. Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024
Principal Joan Harabedian (626) 355-9028
website: www.st-rita.org
Sierra Madre Elementary School
141 W. Highland Ave, Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024
(626) 355-1428 Principal: Lindsay Lewis
E-mail address: lewis.lindsay@pusd.us
Sierra Madre Middle School
160 N. Canon Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024
(626) 836-2947 Principal: Garrett Newsom
E-mail address: newsom.garrett@pusd.us
Walden School
74 S San Gabriel Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91107 (626) 792-6166
www.waldenschool.net
Weizmann Day School
1434 N. Altadena Dr. Pasadena, Ca. 91107
(626) 797-0204
Lisa Feldman: Head of School
Wilson Middle School
300 S. Madre St. Pasadena, Ca. 91107
(626) 449-7390 Principal: Ruth Esseln
E-mail address: resseln@pusd.us
Pasadena Unified School District
351 S. Hudson Ave., Pasadena, Ca. 91109
(626) 396-3600 Website: www.pusd@pusd.us
Arcadia Unified School District
234 Campus Dr., Arcadia, Ca. 91007
(626) 821-8300 Website: www.ausd.net
Monrovia Unified School District
325 E. Huntington Dr., Monrovia, Ca. 91016
(626) 471-2000
Website: www.monroviaschools.net
Duarte Unified School District
1620 Huntington Dr., Duarte, Ca. 91010
(626)599-5000
Website: www.duarte.k12.ca.us
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com